Trai Hume has spoken openly and honestly about his start to life at Sunderland, being patient for game time and what it was like to make his first Championship start against Burnley...
PATIENCE
“I had a good pre-season leading into the season and thought I was ready to play and ready to start. Obviously Alex Neil at the time gave Lynden Gooch the nod ahead which is fine, and obviously he’s done outstanding since then. It’s just about being patient and waiting for my opportunity and now hopefully I can keep it.”
GOOCH INJURY
"Every player wants to play - it's not nice when you're not playing, but sometimes it happens. Now I'm in the team and I want to try and do as best as I can, but that comes down to Lynden Gooch as well, so it's been tough for me to get in. Unfortunately for him, he's injured but it's an opportunity for me to step up and try to do as well as possible."
EXTRA TRAINING
"It’s just doing that bit extra whenever you’re not playing. You have to do those extra runs you maybe don’t want to do and those extra sessions but it’s about being professional and just keep working hard.”
FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP START
"It was good to get my first start in the Championship but the result, getting beat, made it bittersweet. Hopefully I can try and play as many games as possible up to the break, and hopefully win as many of those as possible."
KNOCKING ON MOWBRAY'S DOOR
"Sometimes it can be hard, but with the gaffer he is very open and he wants us to come and ask the question. It's just like a conversation, he's very nice, he's friendly, he's like a friend or a father figure really. It's helpful and he tries to get to know you on a personal way. You can just go talk to him and there's no pressure or anything like that, it's just a conversation."
PERFORMANCE V BURNLEY
"In the first half, I think we were the better team by far. Then, coming out in the second half, Burnley showed their quality. You could see in the first half that we could match them easily, but in the second half we got stuck between two different lines and that's what cost us. It comes down to us as players. We conceded the first goal early and then we were caught in two minds. We've shown that we are good enough to match any team in the league, we feel like we are good enough and we know we're good enough. Just sometimes the results don't go your way and that's how it was on Saturday."
LOOKING TO LUTON
"It was a bad result for them and it was a bad result for us, so both teams are going to be up for it. Both managers are going to get their team going. The most important thing for us is to go there and get the three points."
OPEN TRAINING SESSION
"It's good for the fans, and it's good for us to train in front of them. There's loads of fans who have come out just to see us train and it shows how much the club means to them, and how much they mean to us."
SETTLED IN
“I’ve settled in very well. It’s obviously different moving away from home and moving to a different country. It’s getting used to it and the lads have been brilliant with me so it’s been easy. It’s not as if you are coming into a group that is a lot older and you’re not going to get along with them. You are getting along with a lot of players who are all around the same age."
BIG DIFFERENCE
“The fan base is incredible here and it’s a big difference with the standard in the league, the standard of players in the Championship and even League One is much higher. It’s just getting used to that and trying to play as many games as possible.”
